Will DirecTV's HD push stimulate competition?

by Darren Murph posted Jul 25th 2007 at 3:21AM

Arguments have already begun over who will eventually reign supreme as the dominant HD provider, and while cable has had years to take advantage of their increased HD offerings compared to satellite carriers, that gap is quickly closing. DirecTV has already launched one HD-centric bird into orbit and apparently has number 11 ready to rock, and the firm's recent HD marketing campaign just might "light a fire in cable to reconsider the pace at which they invest" in HD rollouts. Of course, DirecTV's latest stunt (you know, the sixty-second countdown commercial) is full of asterisks and features a quick-lipped dame throwing in a multitude of "up to"s and "potentially"s, but what's clear is how harshly it comes down on cable. Hey, we're all for taking the gloves-off approach to getting things done, especially if we cable customers actually benefit from DirecTV's aggression.

Filed under: Industry, Cable, Satellite

Tags: ad, ads, advantage, advertising, channels, directv, hd channels, HdChannels, investing, lead, marketing, offerings

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Scagnetti @ Jul 25th 2007 8:31AM

I don't understand Direct TV being the leading HD provider of anything. Sure they have been advertising the past couple years of "future" HD programming with hundreds of high difinition content, but have not yet come to fruation. Maybe in a couple months, but it's too late now with cable companies catching up after lagging behind for years and telephone companies such as AT&T offering television service with fiber optic technology, and Dish Network still offering more HD channels and not capitalizing on some media blitz of HD channels that wont be around for years. If anything I would say Direct TV is aggressive because it has to stay in competition with all the other local TV services offering HD content and not the other way around.

Neutral

jd77xx @ Jul 25th 2007 11:30AM

A company not suing or complaining about competition and taking the lead and they sell TV. Cable has a lot to learn and move out of their obsolete business model. Can't wait to read all the comments on this post.

Neutral

Jeff N. @ Jul 25th 2007 1:17PM

Competition is good. Cable service is much better than it was before DirecTv and Dish showed up. I would think Cable will have to at least try and match DirecTV and Dish's HD offerings. Customers who have HDTV programming usually have HBO and such and that is where they make the most money. If the Cable systems lag far behind they risk losing premium customers.

Neutral

Logboy @ Aug 20th 2007 10:48AM

Directv is nice. I had it once (pre HD), but contrary to what they say, they don't have more regular HD channels than cable, but I hate cables "we can do what we want" attitude. Competition is good and I can't wait until FIOS TV (Verizon) Starts in my neighborhood.

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